A High-Court Division Bench of Justice Atowar Rahman Khan and Justice Ali Reza has granted bail to Chandan Kumar Dhar, known as Chinmoy Krishna Das, leader of Bangladesh Sammilito Sanatani Jagran Jote and “expelled” member of ISKCON. Earlier on February 4, 2025, following a writ petition submitted by Chinmay Krishna’s lawyer Prahlad Debnath, the High Court issued a rule asking why the detention of Chinmay would not be declared illegal and why he should not be granted bail.

On April 30, after hearing, the High Court Division bench declared the rule “absolute” thus granting bail to Chinmoy Das. As May 1 is a public holiday and Friday and Saturday weekly holidays in Bangladesh, Chinmoy Krishna Das may be out of prison until next week as the copy of the court order is required to reach the prison authorities for the release. Meanwhile Attorney General’s office has moved a petition seeking postponement of the Bail order. If Applied Division accepts AG’s petition, release of Chinmoy Krishna Das will become uncertain.

Chinmay Krishna Das was arrested on November 25 last year following a sedition case filed by Firoz Khan, former general secretary of Chattogram’s Mohora ward Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) with city’s Kotwali Police Station, accusing Chinmoy and 18 others of disrespecting the national flag during a rally on October 25 in the port city’s New Market area.

In Bangladesh, desecration of the national flag is considered a serious offense, as the flag represents the struggles and sacrifices made for independence and sovereignty. The National Flag Rules explicitly prohibit any flag, symbol, or object from being displayed above the national flag, and breaching these rules can be grounds for charges like sedition, which is punishable by both imprisonment and fines under Bangladeshi law.

Following his arrest, thousands of protesting Hindus began chanting the slogan “Jai Shri Ram” and attempted to obstruct the prison van transporting him from the court to Chittagong Central Jail. During this protest, radical Islamic groups suddenly attacked the demonstrators in the presence of law enforcement officials.

The charges brought by the BNP leader stated, Chinmoy and others “hoisted saffron flag above the national flag of Bangladesh. Although later it was revealed that the allegation was totally baseless and even BNP had expelled Firoz Khan following filing of the case, a large number of Islamists and jihadists in Bangladesh, including members of Hizb Ut-Tahrir, Jamaat-e-Islami, Hefazat-e-Islam and others began publicly holding rallies against Chinmoy and other Hindu rights activists in various parts of the country while lawyers were obstructed from seeking bail for the Hindu rights leader in the court.

Furthermore, following filing of the sedition case, members of Hefazat-e-Islam and other extremist groups, including Ansar Al Islam, local franchise of Al Qaeda held public rallies and openly called upon Muslims to catch Hindus and members of ISKCON and “slaughter” them.

Extremists even went further by urging fellow Muslims to “sharpen knives” for slaughtering ISKCON members.

Hindus in Chittagong city, in particular, have been enduring an unbearable ordeal, reminiscent of the atrocities perpetrated by Pakistani occupation forces and their local collaborators on the night of March 25, 1971. Unless these acts of violence are halted by the state, hundreds of thousands of Hindus risk being slaughtered, and Hindu women face the threat of physical assault and rape.

On March 25, 1971, Pakistani occupation forces launched ‘Operation Searchlight’, unleashing unprecedented cruelty on independence-seeking Bengalis in what was then East Pakistan. Thousands of Hindus were brutally murdered, Hindu women and girls were subjected to rape, and Hindu homes were set ablaze. For the Pakistani military, this massacre of unarmed civilians – primarily Hindus – was a grim celebration, as policymakers in Rawalpindi labeled the Bengali liberation movement a “Hindu uprising”.

Since late July 2024, Hindus in Bangladesh have endured horrific atrocities, including mass killings, rapes of women and girls (including minors), and widespread looting. Hindu homes, businesses, and temples have been systematically targeted in arson attacks which have been perpetrated by Islamist, jihadists and Hindu-haters. Members of the “Stranded Pakistanis” community, also known as Biharis, have reportedly joined these acts of violence against Hindus.

This unfolding genocide appears to mirror Adolf Hitler’s “Final Solution”, as the revolutionary Islamist regime under Muhammad Yunus pursues the dangerous agenda of transforming Bangladesh into a Hindu-free, Taliban-style state. Such a transformation would not only make Bangladesh a hotbed of radical Islamic terrorism but also pose a severe security threat to neighboring India and the broader region.

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